May 19, 2020 by chefpaulette

Find the Fava Beans (with Pasta)

FV-shelled cU

It’s spring. The best time to find some fava beans. (Although, because food tends to travel long distances, you may find them during other seasons.)

When I worked at Batali’s restaurant, Lupa, in NYC, springtime fava beans were on the menu every day. In the prep kitchen, shucking the beans was a daily routine. We shucked and parboiled with love. And the beans ended up in pasta, vegetable sides, and appetizers. I LOVE them.

You can often find them at international markets. When you buy them, buy a lot. The pods are bulky and once you get the beans out, the volume shrinks to about a quarter of the original beans-in-the-pod. But the little beans are rich, in a vegetable-healthy way.

FV-raw

Here’s a recipe for a quick pasta dish with fava. I added shallot and mushrooms and a little bit of fresh herbs — basil & parsley — to go with spaghetti.

First: break open the pods and remove the beans. Discard the pods.

FV-shelled

Now: bring a medium saucepan– half-way filled with water — to a boil. Add a little salt, add beans. Par-boil for about 1-2 minutes. Then drain, and run under cool water. We’re not trying to cook the beans here. We want to loosen the shell coating.

Here’s where it gets a little tedious (but so worth it!): peel shell off of each bean. I usually pull from the thick bump on one end of the shell.

FV-boiled shelled

Inside the tender beans are bright deep green.

FV-boiled shelled CU

Now you’re ready to start your pasta sauce. Put a pasta pot of water on the stove to boil. Sauté a minced shallot and a handful of sliced mushrooms, and your fava beans in a few tablespoons of olive oil. Cook at a lively simmer for about 3 minutes. Then add a 1/4 of dry white wine. Let it simmer and almost evaporate.

I love some toasted breadcrumbs with this dish. Just add a 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs or Panko to a small frying pan. Add a drizzle of olive oil, and sauté until browned.

FV-toasted breadcrumbs

As your fava/mushrooms mixture cooks, boil some spaghetti. When spaghetti is done, drain (reserving a cup of pasta water), add to sauté pan with fava. Cook for another 2 minutes, coating pasta with sauce. If too dry, add pasta water and a little olive oil. Then a handful of the breadcrumbs.

FV-inpan BC

Mix them in. Serve. Eat. Mangia. Enjoy!

FV-in pan mixed BC

Spaghetti with Fava Beans and Mushrooms

1 1/2 pounds fava bean (in pods)

2-3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 shallot, peeled and minced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2-3/4 pound spaghetti

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup breadcrumbs or Panko

handful basil and or parsley leaves, rough chopped

salt to taste

Shuck the beans from the pods. Discard pods. Bring a half pot of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add beans and boil for 1-2 minutes. Drain and rinse in cool water.

Peel shells off of fava beans. Heat 2-3 tablespoons olive oil in a large saute pan. When hot, add minced shallot, sliced mushrooms and fava beans. Saute until the mushrooms brown. Add the wine and let evaporate. Season with salt. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a pasta pot of water to a boil. Add spaghetti and cook to al dente. When done, drain (reserve a cup of pasta water) and add to pan with vegetables. Toss to coat, cook for 2-3 minutes more. Add more olive oil or pasta water if too dry. Add a handful of toasted breadcrumb. Mix in. Add herbs. Taste for seasoning, add more salt if needed. Serve.

June 26, 2018 by chefpaulette

Fresh Fava Bean w Pasta Recipe

fresh fava beans

I think my first encounter with fava beans was in the 70’s when I went to school in Rome. I was surrounded by Italians — many in love with cooking (but, of course). So I was not only encouraged to eat fava, but to cook them, too. It’s a process I would bring home with me to NYC… and one that I would encounter in quantity while working the prep kitchen at Mario Batali’s Lupa restaurant. There, we were asked to prepare the fava beans with love. And we did.

Favas are not the kind of vegetable you bring home and just sauté, or boil, or roast. There’s a time-intensive, work-intensive ritual before the cooking starts. Don’t be scared away. It’s well worth it!

Favas generally appear in the spring and fall. But with our global transfer of foods, there are places you might be able to buy them all the time. I find them often at international groceries and/or Middle Eastern grocery stores. Italians are not the only culture in love with fava beans.

Here’s a recipe for fava cooked with leeks and pancetta and tossed with pasta. Do (really do) try it. It’s homey, and easy, and full of flavor. And quick!

pasta w fava beans

First. How to prepare the favas. They grow in thick pods — like peas pods after a workout. Get a lot. I usually half-fill or almost-fill a clear vegetable bag. After shucking the beans you’ll throw away the pods.

pile of fava pods

Tear open the pods, and pull out the beans inside.

luscious fava in the pod

beans out of the pods

But you’re not done with prep yet. First get a medium saucepan of water boiling. Add little salt. Toss in the fava beans and boil for about 1-2 minutes. You’re not really cooking them here, just trying to loosen the shells.

Drain the beans and run them under cool water. Now pinch one end of the shell and push out the deeper green-colored bean inside.

peeling fava shells

You can throw out the shells. But keep those precious green jewels!

peeled, blanched fava

NOW start your recipe. Sauté some minced leek (I use 1 leek, just the white part, rinsed well), with about 1/4 lb. diced pancetta in a little olive oil.

saute leek and pancetta

When the leek has softened and the pancetta cooks through, add the favas. Sauté 3-4 minutes. Then add a splash of dry white wine or dry vermouth. Let that evaporate.

add vermouth

Then simmer for 4-5 minutes more until the favas are tender to the bite. Season with salt.

Meanwhile, boil a favorite cut pasta in salted boiling water— about 1/2 lb. When almost al dente drain and add to the sauté pan.

add the pasta

Cook stirring for a few minutes more. Add some pasta water if too dry. Add a few drizzles of olive oil. Season with some more salt if needed.

pasta w fava beans

Add some torn basil leaves if you’ve got ’em. Mmmmmm! Enjoy.

pasta w fava beans

Fresh Fava Bean w Pasta Recipe

2 lbs. fava beans in pods

1 leek, trimmed of green, rinsed, & diced

1/4 lb. diced pancetta

olive oil for sautéing plus extra

1/4 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth

1/2 lb. favorite cut pasta

salt to taste

Open the pods and take out the fava beans. Discard pods. Bring a medium saucepan, half full with water, to a boil. Salt water. Drop in fava beans, boil for 1-2 minutes. Drain and rinse in cool water. Pinch the end of each bean shell and push out the bright green beans in side. Discard shells.

Put a pot of pasta water on to boil.

Add a couple of drizzles of olive oil to a medium sauté pan, heat till hot. Add diced leek and pancetta. Sauté for 1- 2 minutes. Add fava beans, sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add wine or vermouth. Simmer until mostly evaporated, 2-3 minutes more. Cook a couple of minutes more until fava are tender to the bite.

Meanwhile, add salt to boiling water and boil pasta. When almost al dente, drain and add pasta to sauté pan. Stir to coat. Sauté adding some pasta water if too dry, adding some olive oil to coast, adjust seasoning (salt), add some torn fresh basil if you have some.

Serve with grated parmigiano (optional).

February 18, 2015 by chefpaulette

What I Buy at Trader Joe’s – Part 2

Oh, this list can go on forever, but I’ll try to fill in the blanks little by little, each time with a new list of goodies. I have fun at Trader Joe’s. I have fun at supermarkets period. At farmer’s markets. At Costco. At foreign supermarkets, outdoor markets, little food stores. Seeing food on display, deciding what you want, imagining recipes, discovering new products, sampling, happy to see the season’s new crops…I love all of that. It’s my idea of a good time.

New List of My Trader Joe’s Favs:

Fresh Artichokes – 4 medium artichokes to a pack – cheap money

Fresh Artichokes at Trader Joe’s

I am an artichoke junkie. I love the Italian word for artichokes: carciofi. Finding fresh ones, consistently, that aren’t the size of tractor trailers, that are human-sized, that you can cook up in the many ways I love to cook them (here’s one recipe), is sometimes the equivalent of obtaining the Holy Grail (yes, I exaggerate). But these are gold-like to me. And TJ’s is the only place where the packages are stacked high and easy to buy. I grew up eating them “Italian-style” then shared an apartment on LI with a California friend (hello, Castroville, CA, American capital of artichoke growing) and learned her way of eating them and then we came up with a recipe we both adored: boil or steam them till the heart is tender. Make a dip of mayo, lemon juice and soy sauce. Umami-central.

Olives (Picholine)

Trader Joe’s Picholine Olives

Trader Joe’s has 3 different olives that I love. Picholine is one of them. Perfect acidity, soft but al dente, goes with ANYTHING. My other favs are their pitted Kalamata and the green Jaques Lucques olives–oh, yum.

Red Argentinian Shrimp

Trader Joe’s Argentinian Shrimp

These are in the freezer section. Raw, shelled. And are not always available. They SELL OUT. Something unusual about this shrimp. They are pink while raw, and they are soft when cooked. It’s an odd, pleasant, and luxurious sensation to bite into one, like you’ve been invited to the high gourmand table.

Trader Joe’s Italian Shelled Fava Beans

Trader Joe’s Frozen Fava Beans

This product is a boon to mankind. How often do you run across fresh fava beans? I do, sometimes. Sometimes in the regular supermarket. More often in the Asian market. But not always. THESE are out of their pods, but still in their individual shells. I just discovered them in TJ’s freezer section last month. LOVE. I give them a quick blanche, then peel each shell away to reveal that startling green lovely, so lovely, fava bean. My fav recipe: Sauté some sliced onion and diced pancetta in some olive oil. Add beans, add a bit of wine. Cook for just 5 minutes or so (TJ’s are young beans, so don’t need to cook too long). Add some salt. LOVE this.

Walnuts, Halves & Pieces

Trader Joe’s Walnuts Halves & Pieces

So when I usually buy walnuts they are whole. Supposedly, that’s preferred. If you’re snacking on them I’m sure that whole is more satisfying. But if you’re cooking, I end up breaking them between my fingers (since on a board with a knife they tend to have a flight life all their own). Trader Joe’s sells them broken. TJ’s nut department– no, not the employees — nor the shoppers — but the nuts as in walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, cashews, peanuts, almonds is EXTENSIVE. It’s a pleasure just to peruse the shelves and marvel at the variety. Yes, you can get whole walnuts, but I like these broken ones…ready to go. Same with pecans, whole or broken, candied or salted, raw or roasted. And the list goes on…leaving an irresistible trail for you to follow …nibbling all the way.

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Trader Joe’s Cocoa Powder

I love this package. And I love this cocoa. What more could you want?

Blood Oranges (when they have them)

Trader Joe’s Blood Oranges

I almost fainted when I saw this bag of blood oranges at Trader Joe’s this past January. They’re a rare commodity. They aren’t there now. But you never know. And that’s the thing about Trader Joe’s. They come up with seasonal stuff. (Like a 2-foot branch of Brussels sprouts. And their burnt-around-the edges-but yummy matzoh crackers only in around Passover.) And then it’s gone. Grab it when you can. These blood oranges are so delicious, not as sweet as “orange” oranges, but the tartness elevates the flavor. They’re so pretty and remind me of my student days in Rome. My other fav TJ’s orange is the Cara Cara.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned for Part 3. Because there’s always something cool to get at TJ’s. Don’t be shy about trying stuff. You will likely not go wrong. (They ain’t paying me for this.) (Maybe they should!) 🙂

TJ’s Blood Oranges

Chef Paulette

A little bit of Italy at home.

fava beans

Find the Fava Beans (with Pasta)

Fresh Fava Bean w Pasta Recipe

What I Buy at Trader Joe’s – Part 2

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